The EU’s crackdown on online hate speech: too little, too late?

The Author

Bob Groome holds a B.A in French, Sociology and Political Science and a Masters degree in Natural Resource Governance and Economic Policy, both from National University of Ireland, Galway. He speaks English and French and has a good command of Irish.

Hateful, racist or sexist comments on the internet: you’ve probably seen them. Many people try to ignore these messages. But actually, it’s better to take action and flag illegal hate speech. The European Commission and IT companies know that we can’t shelter everyone and especially our children from illegal hate speech online.

Thus, instead of trying to focus only on parental blockers, the higher-uppers have put the tools in our own hands to combat the illegal hate speech, by flagging and reporting it. It is then examined by IT companies and they provide a swift response to racist and xenophobic hate speech content notified to them. By collectively tackling hate speech, it is hoped to stop the spread and prevalence of hate speech online.